Soy yogurt is hard to find and terribly expensive where I live. I’ve tried to make soy yogurt by culturing it myself, like dairy yogurt, but never had as much success as I’d like. Also, it’s difficult for me to find dairy-free starter culture. Instead, I make yogurt for our family in the blender. This yogurt doesn’t have the healthy bacteria that cultured yogurt does, but it does have all of the flavor and texture that we’ve come to expect in yogurt. It’s affordable and snap to make. The only drawback is cleaning the blender afterward. My oldest son coined the term Togurt, and the name stuck.

Togurt or Tofu Yogurt

Ingredients

14 or 16 ounce block firm tofu

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (corn oil tastes best)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 to 1/3 cup water

Directions

You need a blender to prepare this recipe. So, get out your blender. Make sure it’s clean. Open up your tofu and drain it well. Crumble the tofu into the blender jar. Add all the remaining ingredients. Add 1/4 cup water to start with. If necessary you can add more in a little bit. Place the lid on your blender and process the mixture for a full minute. You will need to stop the blender and urge things along with a chop stick or the handle of a wooden spoon every 10 or 15 seconds. If you can see that the load is simply more than your poor blender can manage, then add another tablespoon or two of water. Continue processing until you have a smooth, thick, creamy mass.

Scrape the yogurt out of the blender and into a resealable container. Store in the fridge. Use anywhere you would normally use dairy yogurt. This is the plain version. I prefer plain dairy yogurt so I make plain togurt too. If you prefer vanilla then increase the sugar to 1/4-cup and add 1-teaspoon of vanilla flavoring. You can add fruit too if you like. If you add a lot of fruit, then you may need less water, depending on how juicy your fruit is.

This recipe makes about 2-cups. If you go through a lot of yogurt in your house then feel free to make more than a single batch at a time. You have to wash the blender anyway. Might as well get full use of it.

If you receive WIC and your state allows for tofu, this is a delicious and kid-friendly way to use it up.